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Running head: LEADERSHIP

Leadership Platform Katy D. Elliott University of Mount Union

LEADERSHIP Organizational Profile: The Edge Academy is a charter school in Akron, Ohio serving students in kindergarten through fifth grade. Students in kindergarten through second grade are split into ability-based groupings for an hour and a half each day and return to their classrooms where the core subjects are taught by their classroom teacher. Students in

third through fifth grade do ability-based groups for about 45 minutes a day. They switch classes four times a day for their core subjects. The same teacher teaches math and science classes and the same goes for reading and social studies. Students are offered various specialty classes depending on their grade level. Kindergarten, first and second grade participate in gym, music, computer, Spanish, and art. Students in third through fifth grade no longer attend Spanish and instead take part in science lab. Students in third through fifth grade are also given the opportunity to attend various after school programs. These include, basketball club, dance team, crochet, a school musical, and end of the year talent show. All of these programs are proposed and run by different teachers in the school. Our school also works in conjunction with Minority Behavioral Health Group, with participation at about 10% of our families. Minority Behavioral Health Group as described on their webpage: Minority Behavioral Health Group (MBHG) is incorporated as a private non-profit faith-based organization under the name of Akron Community Development Association. MBHG is a community Medicaid contracted agency that provides primarily school based mental health assessments, behavioral health counseling and therapy and community psychiatric support services. Additionally, the agency provides

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educational and preventative services that promote a holistic approach. The goals of these services are to promote individual, family, and community awareness, collaboration, stability and responsibility. The agency consists of psychologists, counselors, community psychiatric supportive treatment providers, and pastors who are committed to providing culturally appropriate, comprehensive services to individuals and families. (Minority Behavioral Health Group, 2011) Families are able to sign up to work with MBHG and many do so at the suggestion of classroom teachers or the principals. Some of the specific services that students who work with MBHG are provided with is rides to and from school by the counselors. The counselors also are able to take the students to their doctor appointments and pick up medication if necessary. Students are also offered speech and occupational and physical therapy. According to the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) during the 2012-2013 school year our student ethnic population was 87.4% Black, Non-Hispanic. We have 7.1% of students who are White, Non-Hispanic and 4% students who are considered Multiracial. No other ethnical group was reported on the report card, as ODE does not give statistics for groups with less than 10 students. We have 11.8% students who are recognized as having disabilities. 99% of our students fall in the economically disadvantage category. Students are provided with free or reduced breakfast and lunch based upon their socioeconomic status. 100% of classroom teachers at The Edge Academy have at least a Bachelors Degree and 27.8% have a Masters Degree (Ohio School Report Cards, 2013). Of the 12 classroom teachers 25% are male and .8% are Black, non-Hispanic females with the rest

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being White, non-Hispanic females. Of the nine support staff including Title teachers and Intervention Specialists 11.1% are Black, non-Hispanic female and 22.2% are White nonHispanic males, 11.1% are Hispanic females, the rest being White-non Hispanic females. We have five specials teachers at our school; one is also a Title teacher so her statistics are included there. 25% of the special teachers are male non-Hispanic and the rest are White non-Hispanic females. The administrative staff including school director, principals, secretary, school psychologist, curriculum director and special education director consists of seven. The ethnic background of these staff members include: 33.3% male White, non-Hispanic and 16.7% are Black, Non-Hispanic females. Many parents have said that a reason why they chose to leave The Edge Academy is because of the lack of diversity in the staff, although when looking at staff of schools from the National Center for Education Statistics in 2008 it shows of the 3,898,420 teachers 83.5 percent are White, non-Hispanic and 6.7 percent are Black, non-Hispanic. In urban areas 90.3 percent are White, non-Hispanic and 4.6 percent are Black, non-Hispanic. These national statistics align with our school very closely. There were no statistics given for males and females in the teaching field on the National Center for Educations website. The percentage of teachers who return each year has varied since I began at the school in 2011, reasons teachers leave is most frequently for a job in a public school. Personal Philosophy of Leadership: My current definition of leadership is an individual that guides others in a positive direction for the betterment of their community. Differences in communities will have an effect on what a successful leader needs to do in order to provide guidance. The Wallace Foundations report Districts Matter: Cultivating the Principals Urban

LEADERSHIP School Need by Lee Mitag in 2013 explains the leadership needs in urban schools and believes that the nations trouble urban schools, school districts must make the development of leadership a top priority (p. 7). In the 2012-2013 school year 41.1

percent of urban school districts in Ohio were designated with an F on their report card from the state and another 18.4 percent were designated with a D (Ohio Department of Education, 2013). It is important to help turn them around so they are able to be competitive with their rural and suburban counterparts. The leader needs to have an understanding of urban communities first and foremost so that they can provide proper opportunities for the staff and students to be successful. The Wallace Foundations report covers the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district in North Carolina and their method for hiring potential principal candidates. Candidates are required to submit three years of performance reviews, transcripts, workshops attended, proof that they are continuing their education and the ever important data showing the influence they have made for student achievement in their current position. These items are then looked over, if they appear to be a good fit on paper they are then called for an interview. During the time of the interview they also must complete a writing exercise and discuss a case-study. After this only about 30 percent make it into a talent pool, allowing them to seek leadership roles in the district (p. 21). This rigorous process also allows for a quick review of other possible leaders in case the person hired does not work out as expected. The CharlotteMecklenburg schools are now meeting 81 of the 91 Annual Measurable Objectives stated on their report card from the state of North Carolina (2011-2012). In Cage-Busting Leadership (2013) Hess states that leaders providing leadership requires two balanced actions. One is coaching, mentoring, nurturing, and inspiring

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others to forger dynamic, professional cultures (p. 5). The second half of leadership that Hess believes is necessary is to be cage-busting. Cage-busting helps make it possible for you to be the leader you aspire to be (p. 5). In Leaders of Learning (2011) by Richard Dufour and Robert Marzano provide statistics showing that from 1960 to 2000 those twenty-five years of age or older with a high school diploma almost doubled from 41 percent to 80 percent (United States Census Bureau, 2010). There has also been a large gain in students performance from 1987 to 2007 according to the College Board. While these statistics show we are making a step in the right direction, as leaders in the American education system we still have a long way to go in order to be competitive. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report that in 2006 of the twenty-six industrialized countries the United States places eighteenth in high school graduation rates and National Governors Association in 2008 reported that the United States experience the second highest college dropout rate. As a current teacher I consider myself to be a leader in and out of the classroom, everyday, trying to make even the smallest impact on my students education. If we all work together for the betterment of our future instead of competing against one another I believe that the changes will be dramatic. Vision Statement: As a charter school that has been servicing students in the Akron community for over 13 years my schools vision statement has been the same since the beginning. Edge is an acronym for Effort plus Determination plus Goals Equals Success. This acronym is told to the parents at the beginning of each year during our open house parent meeting as well as written on the parent handbook they receive and sign. The acronym for the Edge

LEADERSHIP Academy displays the focus that the students and teachers are putting on the education that occurs there. As described on The Edge Academys website it is a community school that serves children living in Akron, Oh. (2009). A community school is run independently by a school board and does not receive any property tax revenues and is non-profit. Organizational Goals: The goals that I have established to align with The Edge Academys vision statement are:

1. Develop properly established professional learning communities. DuFour and Marzano in Leaders of Learning (2011) explain that a professional learning community (PLC) is put in place so that students are to learn at higher levels, processes must be in place to ensure the ongoing, job-embedded learning of the adults who serve them (p. 21). When considering the Edge acronym PLCs follow Effort. 2. Secondly, I want to set up an after school program in order to align with Determination in The Edge Academys mission statement. Determination to be the best school available to students in the city of Akron as well as competitive with other schools in Stark county. 3. My last goal to align with my schools mission statement is to establish Goals. I plan on having students set monthly and quarterly goals for their academics as well as keep track of them. Goal for Implementation:

LEADERSHIP The goal that I plan to implement within my school is to have each student begin

a goal-setting and tracking notebook. Each classroom teacher will be able to decide what goal their students will set and track at the beginning of the year based on the needs of their students and standards to be met during the school year. Teachers will also decide if the goals set are to be attained by the students on a monthly or quarterly basis. Students and teachers will work together to decide what each individual students goal will be based on their individual strengths and weaknesses. While each teacher is responsible for determining how their notebooks will be arranged I will monitor them to make sure they are being used effectively. These notebooks require the students to put an emphasis on specific areas of their academics where they will be required to not only learn the but also take personal responsibility for it. I will give the teachers a copy of the kindergarten letter journals I use in my class for an example of how to set up goal notebooks. Each student receives a three ring binder that contains a sheet with each letter of the alphabet written and a picture with the beginning sound; see below for example.

LEADERSHIP The sheets will be placed order of introduction and split into a capital letter section and a lower case letter section. Students are split into four groups based on the

results of their latest letter and sound assessments and can move frequently in the groups. They keep track of their group color each week on a beginning page that is split into nine weeks and stamped with the date. Each nine weeks students will fill in their own personal I Can statement on the top of this page that states I Can identify ____ out of ____ letters. When students master a letter or sound it is date stamped and the students color it in. Students in lower groups will only be assessed on the letters and sounds that have already been taught where as students in higher groups will be assessed on all the letters and sounds. With showing the staff members a goal tracking notebook that is already in place for the youngest kids in school I believe it will make them more willing to want to participate and see the good in having the students set goals and track them for themselves. When presented this information for establishing goal setting notebooks, many teachers were reluctant at the beginning because of the impression they got that it would require more time to complete when they were already dealing with a jam packed schedule. When explained that they only item they would need to do extra was develop a system how the students would track their goals and the rest would all be student driven work. I also provided them data of the success my students had from the usage of these notebooks. Each time the students mastered a new letter or sound the excitement they displayed was evident that they were proud of themselves and loved every opportunity they had to share their notebooks with others.

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References College admissions - sat. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.collegeboard.org/ Dufour, R., & Marzano, R. (2011). Leaders of learning. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. Education first nc school report cards. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.ncreportcards.org/src/servlet/srcICreatePDF?pLEACode=600&pYear= 2011-2012&pDataType=1 An encyclopedia britannica company . (2013). Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/ Hess, F. (2013). Cage-busting leadership. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press

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Mitgang, L. (2013). Districts matter: cultivating the principals urban schools needs . Wallace Foundation , Retrieved from http://www.wallacefoundation.org/knowledge-center/school-leadership/districtpolicy-and-practice/Documents/Districts-Matter-Cultivating-the-Principals-UrbanSchools-Need.pdf Minority behavior health group. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.admboard.org/serviceproviders_details.php?agencyid=53 National center for education statistics . (2008). Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2009/2009324/tables/sass0708_2009324_t12n_02.asp National Governors Association, Council of Chief State School Officers, & Achieve, Inc. (2008). Benchmarking for success: Ensuring U.S. students receive a world-class education. Washington, DC: National Governors Association. www.corestandards.org/assets0812BENCHMARKING.PDF New state report card proves ohios charter school experiment has failed. (2013, August 24). Plunderbund. Retrieved from http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/08/24/newstate-report-card-proves-ohios-charter-school-experiment-has-failed/ Ohio state report cards . (2013). Retrieved from http://reportcard.education.ohio.gov/Pages/SchoolReport.aspx?SchoolIRN=133538 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2010). Education at a glance 2010: OECD indicator. The edge academy. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.edge4kids.org/joomla/index.php

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